The Oracle Of Yahveh

The Oracle of Yahveh: Urim and Thummim, The Ephod, The Breastplate of Judgment by Paul Carus, first published in 1911, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

Excerpt from The Oracle of Yahveh: Urim and Thummim, the Ephod, the Breastplate of Judgment Though the oracle by the Urim and Thummim played an important part in the ancient history of the people of Israel, its practice fell gradually into disuse. It was first abandoned, presumably as a relic of paganism, and its methods were absolutely for gotten during the Exile, while in the post-exilic age the loss of it was deeply deplored. Josephusl says that two hundred years before his time the Urim and Thummim had ceased to light up, but his statement is based on the very lowest margin, for they are no longer mentioned as being consulted after Solomon's reign. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This is the first exhaustive study of the Urim and Thummim since 1824, and in this book Van Dam sets out to rectify that lack of attention. He investigates all of the biblical data concerning this enigmatic oracular means of high-priestly revelation and its connection, in the historical books of the Old Testament, with the common phrase "to enquire of Yahweh/God." After surveying the history of interpretation and the treatment of the terms in the various versions and translations, Van Dam examines the implications of similar oracular devices and priestly dress within the larger cultural context of the ancient Near East. He places the Urim and Thummim within the context of divine revelation and human inquiry and the corollary probibition of divination in ancient Israel. He concludes that the breastpiece functioned as a pouch to hold the Urim and Thummim, which therefore clearly were tangible objects. Van Dam traces the use of this oracular instrument through the early monarchy under David--from the time of Joshua through the early monarchy under David--and its apparent disappearance by the time of the "classical" prophets, where a shift to primarily verbal oracles occurs. Concurrent with his study of the history of the oracle, Van Dam interacts with current discussion on the nature and process of God's revelation to humankind.

Conventional wisdom states that the Hebrew Scriptures only hint that there are persons of Yahveh. This book shows that Moses and other Bible writers wrote strikingly and often, both about the Trinity and the deity of the Messiah. The Old Testament is as explicit about the Trinity and the deity of the Messiah as is the New Testament. The reader of this book will come to know the Trinitarianism in the Hebrew Scriptures that Yahvists knew. The reader of this book will come to read the Bible the same way the inspired writers intended it to be read-as Trinitarian